Reginald Ruggles Gates (May 1, 1882 – August 12, 1962), was a Canadian-born geneticist who published widely in the fields of botany and

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

Early life

Reginald Ruggles Gates was born on May 1, 1882, near

Middleton, Nova Scotia Middleton is a town in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Situated on the north bank of the Annapolis River, it is located close to the centre of the Annapolis Valley, from which it gets its nickname, "The Heart of the Valley". History Whe ...

, to a family of English ancestry. He had a twin sister named Charlotte. Gates graduated with first class honours in science from

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to award a baccal ...

in 1903. Further studies toward a second B.Sc. from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

were interrupted by a year in which he returned to his childhood home in Middleton, Nova Scotia, where he served as vice-principal in a local school. He completed this second B.Sc. in 1905, focusing on botany, before accepting a Senior Fellowship at

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

where he completed his Ph.D. on heredity in Oenothera lata (evening primrose) in 1908.

Career

Gates did botanical work in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in 1910. Later, he was a lecturer at

Bedford College, London Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for women in the United Kingdom. In 1900, it became a constituent of the University of London. Having played a leading role in the advancement of women in highe ...

and Professor of Biology at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He was known for his studies of '' Oenothera'' and other plants. Gates was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1931. His nomination reads Additionally, Gates was a eugenicist. In 1923, he wrote ''Heredity and Eugenics''. He maintained his ideas on race and eugenics long after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, into the era when these were deemed anachronistic. He was a founder of ''

Mankind Quarterly ''Mankind Quarterly'' is a pseudoscientific journal that covers physical and cultural anthropology, including human evolution, intelligence, ethnography, linguistics, mythology, archaeology, and biology. It has been described as a "cornersto ...

'' and the

International Association for the Advancement of Ethnology and Eugenics The International Association for the Advancement of Ethnology and Eugenics (IAAEE) was an organisation that promoted eugenics and segregation, and the first publisher of ''Mankind Quarterly''. History IAAEE was founded in 1959 and has headquart ...

, his articles abounded in the journal as ''Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologiae''. He was a strong opponent of

interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different "Race (classification of human beings), races" or Ethnic group#Ethnicity and race, racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United Sta ...

and, according to A. S. Winston, "argued that races were separate species."

Personal life

In 1911, Gates married

Marie Stopes Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for Eugenic feminism, eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and co ...

, but the marriage was annulled in 1914, with Stopes claiming the marriage had not been consummated. Gates did not contest the divorce, although he disputed Stopes's claims, describing her as "super-sexed to a degree that was almost pathological" and adding to this "I could have satisfied the desires of any normal woman". Gates married Jennie Williams in 1929; the marriage was later dissolved. In 1955, he married Laura Greer.

Death and legacy

Gates died on August 12, 1962, and was buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

in Surrey, England. He is memorialized by the Ruggles Gates Award at

Selected publications

*
Heredity and Eugenics
'. (1923). Constable & Co Limited. London, Sydney, Bombay. * ''Heredity in Man''. (1929). Constable & Company. * ''A botanist in the Amazon Valley''. (1927). H. F. & G. Witherby. * ''Human Genetics''. (1946). The Macmillan company (2 volumes). * ''Human Ancestry''. (1948). Harvard University Press. * "Racial elements in the aborigines of Queensland, Australia". (Jan. 1960). ''Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie''. Bd. 50. H. 2. pp. 150–166.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Reginald R 1882 births 1962 deaths Mount Allison University alumni Canadian eugenicists Canadian white supremacists Fellows of the Royal Society McGill University alumni Academics of King's College London Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Canadian emigrants to England Canadian expatriates in the United States University of Chicago staff Artists' Rifles soldiers